ECL's Choppers for Charity and 4-H Rodeo Show - This Company Believes in Giving Back “We have always believed that we need to make a contribution to the communities we do business in. If we're making a living in a community, we have an obligation to support that community and we're honoured to do so.” - Jim Davis, president and CEO.

ECL Choppers for Charity

It's hard to believe it all started with a little piece of paper in a suggestion box. One of ECL's administrative staff couldn't help but think how fun it might be to go for a ride on the back of chairman Tom Fredericks' Harley Davidson, so she suggested he auction off rides at lunchtime with proceeds going to charity. Nine years and over $1 million later, ECL's Choppers for Charity has become a signature event not only for ECL but also for the Alberta Children's Hospital and Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital as well as numerous staff, family members and bikers from around Alberta.

“It's amazing to think how far we've come over the last nine years,” says Fredericks. “We're all very proud of ECL Choppers for Charity.”

Once Fredericks took a serious look at the suggestion, he formed a committee who expanded on the idea to include bake sales, raffles and draws to raise money for the Alberta Children's Hospital.

“We also had about 12 Harley riders who auctioned off rides to go drop off the cheque at the hospital,” says Fredericks. “We thought we could raise about $5,000 that first year.”

The ECL team not only reached their goal but doubled it raising more than $10,000 for the Alberta Children's Hospital.

“It was so gratifying,” says Fredericks. “When those 12 Harleys roared up to the hospital and the kids were out there waiting for us - one was even in a bed - it was great to see them be kids again for an hour and forget why they were there.”

With one year under their belt, the ECL Choppers for Charity committee set its sights a little higher and aimed to raise $15,000 in its second year. They raised $27,000. “So we set the next goal at $50,000,” says Fredericks. “The committee thought we'd never do it. But we raised $60,000. I think it really showed individuals the importance of stretching their goals.”

The following year, they raised $125,000 and upward and onward until last year's event when they raised $225,000 and broke the $1 million mark for total funds donated. The team uses numerous fundraising methods to reach its annual goals from the original bake sale to individuals shaving their heads to the auction of a brand new Harley Davidson every year. Employees at the corporate office even pay two dollars a day for the right to wear jeans to work through the Jeans for Genes program. And now more than 40 bikers from across the province roll up to the Children's Hospital, cheque in hand - rain or shine.

ECL Choppers for Charity has become much more than a fund raising venture. It elicits a great deal of pride in our people to be a part of something like this and has become very much a part of who we are.”

ECL Choppers for Charity involves ECL employees, suppliers, customers, family members and friends from across Alberta creating a community of people working together towards a common goal - to buy much needed equipment for the children's hospitals in Alberta. Every year, the committee chooses a piece of equipment based on what the hospitals need at the time. Over the years, ECL Choppers for Charity has purchased reconstruction equipment for plastic surgery, specialized cribs, surgical tables, educational initiatives, infant monitors and many more gifts. ECL's annual gifts are crucial to providing the best care to sick kids in Alberta.

And while the lasting legacy of ECL Choppers for Charity will be felt by families for many years to come, Egeland says one of the most gratifying things about the fundraiser is to see the impact it makes on individual children.

Every year the champion child from the hospital comes to speak to us at our customer appreciation event in April. They speak about their life journey and what they've been through - the poise of these young kids is so inspiring to all of us. That's when we really feel the difference we can make and have made in these kids' lives.